Greenfield man, 18, pleads not guilty in baby death - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

A Greenfield infant who died over the weekend after being forgotten in a hot car was left alone for about two hours.

More details are emerging about the death of the four-month-old girl. Her father, 18-year-old Joshua Stryzinski, faces charges including neglect of a dependent.

Stryzinski pleaded not guilty in a court hearing Monday, and he was appointed a public defender. Pre-trial conferences were set for September 6 and October 11, with a jury trial set for November 27. A cash bond was set at $50,000.

The court denied Stryzinski's request to attend the funeral visitation.

The temperature in Greenfield when the baby was found was well over 100 degrees, and Saturday was one of the hottest days of the year.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Stryzinski was driving with the baby's mother, a friend and the baby as his passengers. He dropped off the baby's mother at work, then dropped off the friend at her home. The friend brought the baby inside to show her to her parents, and according to Stryzinki, the three of them went inside.

When it was time to leave, Stryzinski told officers that he watched the family friend buckle the baby into her car seat. He then went to his parents' house but did not take the baby out of the car.

Several people were home at the time, but no one asked after the baby. Stryzinski told officers he thought that the friend - whom he had dropped off earlier - was watching the baby.

At around 3:30 pm, Stryzinski was headed to his car to pick up the baby's mother from work when he realized the baby was in the car. He started screaming for help and the child was taken to the hospital.

The baby was pronounced dead at Hancock Regional Hospital.

An autopsy found that she had third-degree burns to her legs and arms, evidence of extreme heat exposure to the sun. The temperature inside the car was recorded at 119 degrees.

There were five other heat-related deaths in Indiana over the weekend.  In Marion County, a woman in her nineties succumbed to the heat and a 54 year-old man died. Even though he had air conditioning, neighbors say he didn't use it.  

In another incident in Fishers on Saturday, a 16-month-old suffered a seizure after being left in a parked car for an hour while her mother went shopping.  That child was initially in critical condition but has since been released from the hospital.   

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